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How to Fly Round-Trip to Japan in Business Class for $100: Part 4 – The Secret to Flying Cathay Pacific Business Class

June 1, 2017
by
Million Mile Secrets Million Mile Secrets

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Million Mile SecretsMillion Mile Secrets Team

We devote thousands of hours of research to help you get Big Travel with Small Money. You support us by signing-up for credit cards through partner links which earn us a commission. Here’s our full Advertising Policy.

Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

Ever dreamed of visiting Japan? Credit card rewards can help get you there for a fraction of the price!

Using miles & points, I recently flew round-trip from Austin, Texas, to Japan for ~$110 in Business Class. The retail cost was ~$11,000! And for 3 weeks of lodging (including some fancy hotels), I spent ~$450!

Japan is a beautiful country, filled with a lot to see and do. You’ll find everything from high-rise skyscrapers to old temples and hot springs. I loved Tokyo’s energetic neighborhoods, shopping, and delicious restaurants. And Kyoto is a fantastic place to ride bicycles, and to explore the bamboo forest and monkey park.

Participating in a cooking class and meeting new friends was the highlight of Osaka. And a day trip to feed the deer in Nara was unforgettable! Plus, Okinawa is known for its beautiful beaches and scuba diving.

I Thoroughly Enjoyed My Meal of Beef With Mashed Potatoes and Veggies

Wherever you go, you’re sure to have an amazing time!

In this part of the series, I’ll share my experience flying to Japan in Business Class on Cathay Pacific., and how you can do it, too! In future posts, I’ll have more about where I stayed and getting around.

It now costs120,000 American Airlines miles for one round-trip Business Class ticket!

I wanted to fly First Class over the Pacific, but had trouble finding seats, so instead booked Business Class flights.

I found a route with a few layovers, but it would be a long trip. So I called the American Airlines customer service line to book the less-than-ideal flights I found, and the agent asked where I wanted to go and the dates I wanted to travel.

I let her know I wanted to fly as close to Okinawa, Japan as possible, and then fly out of mainland Japan. She was excellent, and found better seats for me than I found for myself!

You Can Do It, Too!

Flights

One-way Business Class flights to Japan cost 95,000American Airlines miles and ~$5 in taxes and fees.

We flew American Airlines First Class from Austin to Chicago. We then had a ~4.5 hour layover in Chicago, and spent most of it in the British Airways Terraces Lounge before our flight in Business Class.

It’s smart to allow plenty of time for the layover, in case your first leg gets delayed. Because the last thing you want to do is miss your overseas connection!

We Had a Long Layover at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, So Getting Lounge Access With Our Business Class Tickets Was Great!

If you need more American Airlines miles, you could consider cards like:

Cathay Pacific Business Class – Chicago to Hong Kong

From Chicago, we flew in Cathay Pacific Business class to Hong Kong. The flight was amazing!

The seats were so comfortable and I loved how they were paired.

It’s Fun Being Able to Sit Across From Your Friend or Loved One. Especially in Business Class!

The TV screens were huge, which was perfect for watching a movie (or two or three!). There was a great selection of TV shows, movies, and music.

The TVs Were Big by Airplane Standards!

Soon after takeoff, we were served our first course.

Alfy’s First Course Consisted of Smoked Salmon and a Salad

For my main course, I had beef with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was delicious! And for dessert, I had a green tea mousse cake and a piece of chocolate.

I’ll Never Turn Down a Slice of Cake!

The seats were very modern and had all the comforts: lie flat beds, outlets for charging your electronics, a large TV, and plenty of storage compartments.

Our Seats Were Incredibly Comfortable

It’s always nice not having to worry about your laptop or phone battery running low!

Keeping Your Devices Charged on Long Flights Is a Must!

There was also a large compartment with headphones and a mirror. The headphones provided good sound. But they always seem to be too tight for me and make my ears hurt after an hour or so. I recently purchased a pair of Bose Quietcomfort headphones and LOVE them! As an added bonus, I earned ~3 points per dollar I spent by shopping through Chase’s shopping portal.

How Neat Is This Ear Phone Compartment?

Still, it was a very comfortable flight and I would happily ride Cathay Pacific again!

Overnight Hotel Stay at the Novotel Taipei

I like booking on hotels.com for hotels where I don’t have status or can earn rewards. That’s because when you stay 10 nights, you get 1 free night.

The Lobby at the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Hotel

Peach Flight from Taipei to Okinawa

In the morning, we took a regional airline called Peach from Taipei to Naha, Okinawa. And paid ~$350 for 2 tickets in coach.

The airport was busy in the morning and we had to wait in line for ~20 minutes. But thankfully, the line moved much faster than we thought it would.

Luckily the Long Lines Didn’t Cause Us to Miss Our Flight

It’s easy to get pretty spoiled when you’re used to priority boarding! 😉

Bottom Line

I used 190,000 American Airlines miles and ~$220 in taxes and fees for 2 round-trip Business Class flights to Japan on Cathay Pacific, which was before the devaluation.

Now it costs 240,000 American Airlines miles plus taxes and fees for 2 round-trip Business Class flights.

But redeeming American Airlines for flights to Asia can still be a great use of miles. Because the cash price of a round-trip Business Class ticket can cost thousands of dollars!

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Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)

21comments

I LOVE Cathay’s business class! This is mine and my wife’s favorite, even more so than JAL. The food is spectacular and they have more Western choices than JAL. I especially loved being able to order a gourmet cheeseburger with a remote control. The FA came out and asked if it was okay that it would take 18 minutes to cook. It was a 15.5 hour flight so I had plenty of time. On a Cathay business class flight from Hong Kong to Seoul they served us jumbo prawns, assorted cheese and crackers, beef sirloin and ice cream–all on a 3.5 hour flight. It was amazing.

I’ve never had a problem booking Cathay or JAL business class using AA miles. The key is booking 331 days in advance as soon as they become available. They usually last a week or two before they’re gone.

Your title is false and very misleading. You did not do it for $100 but for $100 and a whole bunch of miles which had some cost to generate (for most of us anyway). You should have added all the miles you used in the title to avoid confusion and to not mimic all the other “click-baiters” out there.

“I redeemed 190,000 American Airlines miles for 2 round-trip Business Class flights to Japan on Cathay Pacific” statement is not accurate since one cannot transit in Asia 2 from US48 to Asia 1 unless AA has changed routing rules for award tickets i’m not aware of.

@ tony kline- I booked it before the devaluation and got 10,000 miles back because I have an American Airlines credit card. And the current price is 120,000 miles round-trip in Business Class. To find an award seat, I searched online. But when I called, the phone agent found even better seats for me. I can’t remember if the Tokyo flight would have been cheaper or not.

John, the best use of the UR points to Japan will be on Singapore Airlines. I flew from LAX to NRT last year on their A380 in Suites class and it was wonderful. Unfortunately they no longer fly the A380 on this route, but they do fly their newer business class product on their 777-300er, which looks to be a great product for a 12 hour flight. Singapore also has very friendly service on board, which is a plus.

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)